Posted on 03/17/2004 11:49:07 AM PST by johnb2004
Now let us consult the Latin Fathers. You will hear Saint Gregory saying clearly, "Many attain to faith, but few to the heavenly kingdom." Saint Anselm declares, "There are few who are saved." Saint Augustine states even more clearly, "Therefore, few are saved in comparison to those who are damned." The most terrifying, however, is Saint Jerome. At the end of his life, in the presence of his disciples, he spoke these dreadful words: "Out of one hundred thousand people whose lives have always been bad, you will find barely one who is worthy of indulgence." The Words of Holy Scripture But why seek out the opinions of the Fathers and theologians, when Holy Scripture settles the question so clearly? Look in to the Old and New Testaments, and you will find a multitude of figures, symbols and words that clearly point out this truth: very few are saved. In the time of Noah, the entire human race was submerged by the Deluge, and only eight people were saved in the Ark. Saint Peter says, "This ark was the figure of the Church," while Saint Augustine adds, "And these eight people who were saved signify that very few Christians are saved, because there are very few who sincerely renounce the world, and those who renounce it only in words do not belong to the mystery represented by that ark." The Bible also tells us that only two Hebrews out of two million entered the Promised Land after going out of Egypt, and that only four escaped the fire of Sodom and the other burning cities that perished with it. All of this means that the number of the damned who will be cast into fire like straw is far greater than that of the saved, whom the heavenly Father will one day gather into His barns like precious wheat. I would not finish if I had to point out all the figures by which Holy Scripture confirms this truth; let us content ourselves with listening to the living oracle of Incarnate Wisdom. What did Our Lord answer the curious man in the Gospel who asked Him, "Lord, is it only a few to be saved?" Did He keep silence? Did He answer haltingly? Did He conceal His thought for fear of frightening the crowd? No. Questioned by only one, He addresses all of those present. He says to them: "You ask Me if there are only few who are saved?" Here is My answer: "Strive to enter by the narrow gate; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." Who is speaking here? It is the Son of God, Eternal Truth, who on another occasion says even more clearly, "Many are called, but few are chosen." He does not say that all are called and that out of all men, few are chosen, but that many are called; which means, as Saint Gregory explains, that out of all men, many are called to the True Faith, but out of them few are saved. Brothers, these are the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Are they clear? They are true. Tell me now if it is possible for you to have faith in your heart and not tremble.
(Excerpt) Read more at olrl.org ...
What is the use of knowing whether few or many are saved? Saint Peter says to us, "Strive by good works to make your election sure." When Saint Thomas Aquinas's sister asked him what she must do to go to heaven, he said, "You will be saved if you want to be." I say the same thing to you, and here is proof of my declaration. No one is damned unless he commits mortal sin: that is of faith. And no one commits mortal sin unless he wants to: that is an undeniable theological proposition. Therefore, no one goes to hell unless he wants to; the consequence is obvious. Does that not suffice to comfort you? Weep over past sins, make a good confession, sin no more in the future, and you will all be saved. Why torment yourself so? For it is certain that you have to commit mortal sin to go to hell, and that to commit mortal sin you must want to, and that consequently no one goes to hell unless he wants to. That is not just an opinion, it is an undeniable and very comforting truth; may God give you to understand it, and may He bless you. Amen.
2 Peter 1:9-10 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.
The full quote seems to indicate that the act of faith is not a one time experience but an act of perserverence with the help of the grace of God. Refutes "once saved always saved" and "man has no free will" by my reading.
In the first point, to fill you with dread, I will let the theologians and Fathers of the Church decide on the matter and declare that the greater number of Christian adults are damned; and, in silent adoration of that terrible mystery, I will keep my own sentiments to myself. In the second point I will attempt to defend the goodness of God versus the godless, by proving to you that those who are damned are damned by their own malice, because they wanted to be damned. So then, here are two very important truths.It is not vain curiosity but salutary precaution to proclaim from the height of the pulpit certain truths which serve wonderfully to contain the indolence of libertines, who are always talking about the mercy of God and about how easy it is to convert, who live plunged in all sorts of sins and are soundly sleeping on the road to hell.
[Doesn't this sound like the vast majority of Catholics today? Haven't we heard about nothing but God's mercy since Vatican II, and aren't the vast majority of Catholics living in mortal sin?]Is there any state in the world more favorable to innocence in which salvation seems easier and of which people have a higher idea than that of priests, the lieutenants of God? At first glance, who would not think that most of them are not only good but even perfect; yet I am horror-struck when I hear Saint Jerome declaring that although the world is full of priests, barely one in a hundred is living in a manner in conformity with state; when I hear a servant of God attesting that he has learned by revelation that the number of priests who fall into hell each day is so great that it seemed impossible to him that there be any left on earth; when I hear Saint Chrysostom exclaiming with tears in his eyes, "I do not believe that many priests are saved; I believe the contrary, that the number of those who are damned is greater."
[Couldn't this have been written today?]
What an arrogant thing to presume, Max.
You have no way of knowing.
Why not take care of yourself, and stop putting people in hell?
That's too bad. It's 80 degrees here :-)
You seem to have missed the whole point of the sermon by St. Leonard. He is not "putting people in hell." He is telling people that they are going there of their own free will. But he stresses the importance of warning people and notifying them and making it clear to them that they ARE going to hell unless they sincerely and completely repent. Some of the numbers he uses in this sermon are truly frightening, like a vision in which out of 33,000 who people who died on a particular day, 2 went right to heaven, 3 went to purgatory, and the rest went to hell.
Are things any better today? No, they are the same or worse. And thanks to things like Gallup polls that weren't around during St. Leonard's lifetimes, we can know with even greater certainty than he did that 99% of Catholics are living in mortal sin.
Simply saying "a majority" is a huge understatement. Let's start with attending Mass on Sunday. It is a mortal sin to deliberately miss Mass. Yet we know that 4 out of 5 CAtholics do just that on a given Sunday. Out of the 20% who attend regularly, how many go to every Sunday and every holy day of obligation without fail? And that's just the smallest of the mortal sins. What about contraception, as you mention -- reliable statistics indicate that at least 95% of married Catholics use contraception. That doesn't leave many who are not on the road to hell. Then we have the list of countless other mortal sins -- how many are avoiding them all? The number of the saved in today's world must be small indeed.
Frequent confession is clearly essential. Yet how short is the line for confession at most churches these days. The latest trend at most parishes is to have no scheduled confession time at all -- just call the rectory they say. And even for those who do confess their sins, as St. Leanord points out, they may have a chance of salvation but still there are many opportunities to merely dig a deeper pit for oneself:
If you consider the sacrament of penance, there are so many distorted confessions, so many studied excuses, so many deceitful repentances, so many false promises, so many ineffective resolutions, so many invalid absolutions! Would you regard as valid the confession of someone who accuses himself of sins of impurity and still holds to the occasion of them? Or someone who accuses himself of obvious injustices with no intention of making any reparation whatsoever for them? Or someone who falls again into the same iniquities right after going to confession? Oh, horrible abuses of such a great sacrament! One confesses to avoid excommunication, another to make a reputation as a penitent. One rids himself of his sins to calm his remorse, another conceals them out of shame. One accuses them imperfectly out of malice, another discloses them out of habit. One does not have the true end of the sacrament in mind, another is lacking the necessary sorrow, and still another firm purpose. Poor confessors, what efforts you make to bring the greater number of penitents to these resolutions and acts, without which confession is a sacrilege, absolution a condemnation and penance an illusion?
And by the way, for the longest time now you and sandyeggo haven't been able to get over the fact that I've been saying that the vast majority of today's Catholics are living in mortal sin and thus are destined for hell. You have acted like this is some sort of unprecedented presumption. But now that you have read this article by St. Leonard of Port Maurice, I hope you can finally admit that what I was saying was no more than the teaching of all the great saints and fathers of the Church. I claim no credit for myself, of course, but what you were scandalized by was no more than the teaching of the Catholic faith.
BigMack
Max was quoting the words of a saint, not himself.
Is there anything you disagree with in this essay?
That is patent nonsense, Max.
Please point out to me where to find the infallible teaching of the Church that there are known souls in hell.
I want more than the opinions of an obscure saint.
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